Crossfit women's bodies - what's going on?

anemoneprose

Can someone please cut through bias & tell me what it is about CF makes those bodies amazing-looking?

Just interested in a breakdown, really. I'm acquainted with the pro/con CF arguments/rationale. I'm after a pragmatic take on what it is that actually happens in those gyms to make such attractive people.

Because I don't know, but it seems there's some kind of recomposition effect. Or something else convincing enough to look like it. I don't think there's an obvious 'cut' and 'bulk' type phasing, unless I'm missing something.

Here's what I think I know:

1) Food: the Paleo diet's most often advised, so that means, high protein & *probably* lower calorie, but I assume that most people eat at least maintenance calories. Dense nutrition, basically.

2) High volume, high intensity strength training under time constraints = some aerobic stuff as well as strength/mass.

3) Intervals (calisthenics, running, rowing, endurance lifting)

Now, I am one careful cathy, so I'm not about to join or even try anything like this. But I am super curious.

Determinednoob

They do resistance training and eat in a way that makes them lose\not gain fat. Safer\less restrictive ways to do both exist.

DopeItUp

They do fairly intense training and eat appropriately. There's no magic to it. You can get the same or better effects doing almost any kind of lifting program with some circuit training and eating well.

anemoneprose

Right, but the figure athletes who do more traditional strength training to get similar aesthetic results seem to do more of the 'bulk'/'cut' thing.

In CF, it'll be the circuit training that makes the difference, right?

(I am super pro safety, you have no idea

IronSmasher

Although there are other communities that encourage women to workout hard, they are all too rare.

anemoneprose

They do resistance training and eat in a way that makes them lose\not gain fat. Safer\less restrictive ways to do both exist.

Re food, you mean high protein @ maintenance?

What do you mean by 'restrictive' - the cutting out of an entire food group? (Though to be fair, carb/calorie cycling's also done in bodybuilding, no?)

anemoneprose

Although there are other communities that encourage women to workout hard, they are all too rare.

It's just the intensity, you think?

DavPul

This question is too easy. Their busting their @$$, that's what's going on. Strength and endurance training to the max. Will that work? Every single time. Can you get hurt trying that stuff? Quite possible. Is it worth it? Totally up to you to decide.

I'm going to go a step further and say it's very likely you'll get hurt. That's because EVERYONE who trains at a moderate level or higher gets hurt at some point. The higher the training level, the closer you are to getting hurt on your very next rep. I don't do Crossfit, but I've had 2 knee surgeries, completely severed my achilles, and ripped my left pec clean off my shoulder. And those are just the scalpel-requiring injuries. There's 1000s of posts on this site by people that only do light jogging but suffered knee injuries.

Personally, I like the Crossfit stuff. Anything that's balls to the wall gets me fired up.

DavPul

Tumbler devoted to the women of Crossfit

http://thrustr.tumblr.com/

anemoneprose

This question is too easy. Their busting their @$$, that's what's going on. Strength and endurance training to the max. Will that work? Every single time. Can you get hurt trying that stuff? Quite possible. Is it worth it? Totally up to you to decide.

I'm going to go a step further and say it's very likely you'll get hurt. That's because EVERYONE who trains at a moderate level or higher gets hurt at some point. The higher the training level, the closer you are to getting hurt on your very next rep. I don't do Crossfit, but I've had 2 knee surgeries, completely severed my achilles, and ripped my left pec clean off my shoulder. And those are just the scalpel-requiring injuries. There's 1000s of posts on this site by people that only do light jogging but suffered knee injuries.

Personally, I like the Crossfit stuff. Anything that's balls to the wall gets me fired up.

Um, wow. Curiosity shifted to what the hell you did to tear off your pec!

I've had my share of milder injuries, nothing so show-offy

Refocus, then - are there any safe ways to approximate those results?

Does the old-school stuff bear up? (Thinking of: 1 hr LISS every day for recovery/cals burned, + heavy weights - i.e. 4-6 rep range)

anemoneprose

Tumbler devoted to the women of Crossfit

http://thrustr.tumblr.com/

Yeah, they look fantastic, I know

chsmith79

This question is too easy. Their busting their @$$, that's what's going on. Strength and endurance training to the max. Will that work? Every single time. Can you get hurt trying that stuff? Quite possible. Is it worth it? Totally up to you to decide.

I'm going to go a step further and say it's very likely you'll get hurt. That's because EVERYONE who trains at a moderate level or higher gets hurt at some point. The higher the training level, the closer you are to getting hurt on your very next rep. I don't do Crossfit, but I've had 2 knee surgeries, completely severed my achilles, and ripped my left pec clean off my shoulder. And those are just the scalpel-requiring injuries. There's 1000s of posts on this site by people that only do light jogging but suffered knee injuries.

Personally, I like the Crossfit stuff. Anything that's balls to the wall gets me fired up.

^^^THIS^^^
There is a risk of injury, but I love it. I do CF at home. You will find a lot of CF haters out there. I started with a 2 week beginner course. I found it online and contacted the local CF affiliate. They were very helpful and supportive. They told me any Sat. I could make it I could come for free! I went after my first 2 weeks and felt absolutely destroyed. Thus I fell in love. It is awesome I stay in contact with them and call or email them with any questions and they are very helpful. I would go I just can't justify $130/mo right now.

waldo56

Not really a secret here. When they go, they go to the max. They use real resistance, not little pink dumbbells.

Work your hind end off several times a week and become an absolute fitness addict (as a solid % of CFers are) and the results will follow.

Appearance is a consequence of fitness. They look like that because they're fit as can be. I'm not a Crossfitter and don't really agree with many of their philosophies, but at least respect the heck out of the fact that there is no secret to success with them, they take no shortcuts, their results are a product of dedication, sweat, and tears.

Train like an athlete and oddly enough you'll begin to look like one eventually.

DavPul

Um, wow. Curiosity shifted to what the hell you did to tear off your pec!

Doc said it's a very rare injury that only happens one of two ways. Linebackers tear them while making tackles, lifters tear them during heavy bench presses. Mine was the latter.

Refocus, then - are there any safe ways to approximate those results?

Does the old-school stuff bear up? (Thinking of: 1 hr LISS every day for recovery/cals burned, + heavy weights - i.e. 4-6 rep range)

Sure. This works too, just a lot less showy. Watch your diet of course. And ramping up the intensity of your cardio (within limits, of course) will have a stronger body recomposition effect than if you only do LISS. Mix it up.

myofibril

Does the old-school stuff bear up? (Thinking of: 1 hr LISS every day for recovery/cals burned, + heavy weights - i.e. 4-6 rep range)

Short answer is yes.

Crossfit / Paleo works because it combines reasonably intense metabolic conditioning workouts with nutrient dense diet but most importantly it inspires devotion. You know what devotion leads to? Adherence. You know what adherence leads to? Results. You know what results leads to? Even more adherence etc etc.

Personally if I wanted to lean out I would pick the traditional bulk / cut cycle for the simple reason is I feel it reaps greater rewards than the above approach because of the higher levels of adaptations triggered due to specificity. Metabolic conditioning workouts are a trade off between the full on aerobic / CV advantages of a properly implemented cardio routine and the anaerobic / muscular growth advantages of a properly implemented weights routine.

Determinednoob

They do resistance training and eat in a way that makes them lose\not gain fat. Safer\less restrictive ways to do both exist.

Re food, you mean high protein @ maintenance?

What do you mean by 'restrictive' - the cutting out of an entire food group? (Though to be fair, carb/calorie cycling's also done in bodybuilding, no?)

high protein sure but not at maintenance. Just meant the ones that need to lose fat eat low enough to lose it and the ones that don;t need to lose fat don't. Yes restrictave I mean all the stuff that they don't eat. You can eat whatever tf you want to and look like that as long as it fits your macros\cals (within reason. obviously a ratioed mix of whey, sugar, and lard all day every day wouldn't cut it.)

I guess some people do cycling, but for average people at least if not for almost everyone, it isn't needed.

FitnSassy

I consider myself "chubby fit" and I did the first CF introduction class at my local Box. (There are three other prerequisite lifting classes that teach proper form.) It was grueling, but I hung in there better than some of the younger men who were puking all over the place. Did I mention that it was grueling? All I know is that when it was over, I felt damn good. My energy level was through the roof. I was in love! I felt like there wasn't anything that I couldn't do. I had transformed into "super woman!" Mind you, it was just the intro class. Did I join? No. Why? I'm scared! LOL... #oneday

bagge72

I think that most of the women and men you see that are really in great shape doing CF were in great shape to begin with, and the sport helped them take it to the next level. I know plenty of people who do CF (because we all know they won't shut up about it) That don't look like all of those pictures we see on-line. I also know plenty of people at my gym that I see there everyday that are in just as good of shape as these people, and they don't do CF so it really is just somebody who works their butt off, and has good genetics! It can be done a ton of different ways, you just have to pick the right one.

chsmith79

They do resistance training and eat in a way that makes them lose\not gain fat. Safer\less restrictive ways to do both exist.

Re food, you mean high protein @ maintenance?

What do you mean by 'restrictive' - the cutting out of an entire food group? (Though to be fair, carb/calorie cycling's also done in bodybuilding, no?)

high protein sure but not at maintenance. Just meant the ones that need to lose fat eat low enough to lose it and the ones that don;t need to lose fat don't. Yes restrictave I mean all the stuff that they don't eat. You can eat whatever tf you want to and look like that as long as it fits your macros\cals (within reason. obviously a ratioed mix of whey, sugar, and lard all day every day wouldn't cut it.)

I guess some people do cycling, but for average people at least if not for almost everyone, it isn't needed.

Not all CFers do Paleo. Most do have a low-carb diet of some sort. But there are some that don't. I count calories and try to keep carb intake at around 100g.I think you should do what works for you as far as diet goes. I do recommend CF as a means of exercise. I have had a couple friends come over to workout and they call me asking "can we do that again".

iWaffle

I think that most of the women and men you see that are really in great shape doing CF were in great shape to begin with, and the sport helped them take it to the next level. I know plenty of people who do CF (because we all know they won't shut up about it) That don't look like all of those pictures we see on-line. I also know plenty of people at my gym that I see there everyday that are in just as good of shape as these people, and they don't do CF so it really is just somebody who works their butt off, and has good genetics! It can be done a ton of different ways, you just have to pick the right one.

Stop making so much sense!

chsmith79

I think that most of the women and men you see that are really in great shape doing CF were in great shape to begin with, and the sport helped them take it to the next level. I know plenty of people who do CF (because we all know they won't shut up about it) That don't look like all of those pictures we see on-line. I also know plenty of people at my gym that I see there everyday that are in just as good of shape as these people, and they don't do CF so it really is just somebody who works their butt off, and has good genetics! It can be done a ton of different ways, you just have to pick the right one.

YouTube"Killing the Fat Man" That is one my inspirations. The guy was 270+lbs and after 10 weeks was 200lbs and taking his level 1 cert. If it doesn't do anything for you why does the Military, Law Enforcement, and Fire Dept. use it? Yes people who do it work our butts off, but isn't that the point?